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Woman says she was fired from Walmart for confronting customer about dog left in hot car

When is it an employee's responsibility to step in, and when is it none of their business?

Carla Cheney with her dog Chico. Cheney was fired from her job as a pharmacy technician at Kemptville Walmart after she spoke to a customer about the danger of leaving his dog in his truck.Photo: Chris Mikula/Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA — A former Walmart employee says she was fired Wednesday for caring about animals.

About half an hour before her shift began, Carla Cheney, a pharmacy technician at the Kemptville store, watched a Newfoundlander dog jump out of a truck window twice before a man put the dog back in the vehicle and rolled up the windows.

Upset, she confronted the man.

“I said he should not be leaving his dog in the car. The man said it was none of my business.”

Customers leave pets in vehicles almost every day, Cheney said. Last week she was outside the store with her manager and another employee when they witnessed a woman leaving her dog in a car.

“I was pretty upset and I said to my manager, ‘What do I do?’ He said it was none of our business and went into the store.”

Concerned, Cheney called the police, who came and spoke with the woman.

Part way through her shift Wednesday, Cheney was called to the office and told she was being terminated for being rude to a customer. She was then escorted from the building.

Cheney isn’t the first employee to be reprimanded for speaking to customers about leaving pets in their vehicles.

Sean Dhaliwal was loading soil into a vehicle on June 27, when he noticed a frequent customer pull into the parking lot and leave his dog in his van. Dhaliwal spoke with the man, who got upset and aggressive.

A few days later, Dhaliwal, who’d already put in his two weeks notice, was told he would be paid for the rest of his shifts, but he wouldn’t be working them.

“I was pretty upset. Being there two and a half years, I would have liked to finish my last week, say bye to every one and all that,” he said.

A spokeswoman from Walmart Canada said the company would not comment on individual employees, but that there are guidelines in place for associates to follow when it comes to identifying dangers, including pets in danger.

“We require our associates to follow these guidelines, which include reporting any safety concerns to a member of management, and engaging customers in a manner that is respectful,” Felicia Fefer said in an email.

I’m just worried that now two of us have sort of been let go, employees won’t say anything the next time and something’s going to happen

A post on Wal-Mart Canada’s Facebook page Thursday said an employee was not fired for trying to help a dog locked in a car.

“The decision to dismiss an associate is one that we take extremely seriously and must follow a comprehensive process. However, out of respect for the associate and for privacy reasons we cannot provide specifics about why this associate was let go,” the post read.

But Dhaliwal and Cheney are concerned that now other employees will be too afraid of losing their jobs to speak up when they see a potentially dangerous situation.

“I’m just worried that now two of us have sort of been let go, employees won’t say anything the next time and something’s going to happen,” Cheney said.

Dhaliwal and Cheney have dogs of their own.

“When it’s that hot, I wouldn’t even think of putting him in the car,” Cheney said of her chihuahua.

Bruce Roney, executive director of the Ottawa Humane Society, said that’s the right attitude to take. The temperature inside a vehicle can rise 10 degrees in just 10 to 15 minutes, he said, even with the windows cracked open.

Dogs pant to expel heat, but the outside air needs to be cool for panting to be effective.

“If the temperature rises too high, the dog can no longer expel heat from its body,” Roney explained.

People often underestimate the length of time they’ll be away from their vehicles, which can be dangerous for pets, Roney said. The best decision is to leave furry friends at home where they’re cool and comfortable.